Reinventing a 77-Year-Old Brand: NASCAR’s Modern Playbook with Tim Clark and Jimmie Johnson

In this episode of Adspeak by ADWEEK, executive editor Alison Weissbrot speaks with Tim Clark, EVP and chief brand officer at NASCAR, and seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson about how NASCAR is reinventing itself for a fragmented media landscape.

They explore staging races in unconventional venues, expanding through gaming and digital platforms, and turning motorsport into a broader lifestyle brand.

The conversation highlights how legacy organizations can evolve culturally, reshape audience perception, and stay authentic while engaging new generations of fans.

What you’ll learn:

How to overcome the barrier to entry problem in motorsports
The critical difference between brand awareness and brand perception
Why authentic brand integration generates 10x more loyalty than logo placement
How to use gaming and simulation as legitimate talent pipelines
The Formula 1 brand playbook lesson for legacy sports
How to build athlete-driven brands that transcend competition

Tim Clark is the CBO at NASCAR, leading the organization’s strategic positioning and modernization efforts. With expertise in brand perception management and legacy brand transformation, Clark oversees NASCAR’s expansion into new markets, digital platforms, and lifestyle categories.

Jimmie Johnson is a seven-time NASCAR champion and owner of Legacy Motor Club, bringing both competitive racing expertise and entrepreneurial business acumen to the motorsports industry.

With a career spanning two decades as a professional driver and recent expansion into team ownership and brand building, Johnson represents the modern athlete-entrepreneur model.

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Episode highlights:

[01:24] Breaking the Barrier to Entry — Tim Clark explains that NASCAR faces a higher barrier to entry than traditional sports because most people haven’t grown up racing themselves. Instead of waiting for fans to travel to racetracks, the organization brings events to unexpected venues like naval bases and city centers. By meeting audiences where they already gather, physically and culturally, NASCAR turns passive awareness into immersive experiences that help attract entirely new fan segments.

[07:39] Brand Awareness vs. Brand Perception — Tim and Jimmie note that while NASCAR enjoys near-universal recognition, perception doesn’t always match reality. Many potential fans hold outdated assumptions about the sport. To change that, NASCAR focuses on experiential storytelling, letting audiences witness the speed, skill, and precision firsthand. These immersive moments reshape how people understand the sport and demonstrate a broader lesson for legacy brands: Awareness alone doesn’t drive growth unless perception evolves alongside it.

[14:56] Gaming as a Talent Pipeline and Fan Gateway — Tim and Jimmie highlight how iRacing functions as both a fan engagement platform and a development pathway for professional drivers. William Byron famously began racing competitively through the simulator before reaching NASCAR’s top tier. By treating digital racing as legitimate training rather than casual gaming, NASCAR bridges the gap between virtual and physical competition, turning gaming into a powerful engine for both talent discovery and fan acquisition.

[21:25] Authentic Brand Integration — Tim Clark explains that in NASCAR, sponsorships are more than branding; they directly enable on-track performance. Fans understand that sponsor investment funds technology, teams, and race operations, creating a clear link between brands and competitive success. This transparency transforms logos from decorative placements into meaningful partnerships. By showing how sponsor support improves performance, NASCAR builds deeper loyalty, demonstrating how authentic integration can generate far stronger engagement than traditional sponsorship visibility alone.